Swing attachment for stirrup leathers



Aug. 31, 1937. E V NC 2,091,897

SWING ATTACHMENT FOR STIRRUP LEATHERS Filed March 26, 1937 2Sheets-Sheet l 'Au .31,1937. REVANCE 2,091,897

SWING ATTACHMENT FOR STIRRUP LEATHERS Filed March 26, 1937 2 Sheets-She'et 2 ROBERT EAR Ila/v05 Patented Aug. 31, 1937 SWING ATTACHMENTFOR STIRRUP LEATHERS Robert Earl Vance, Buford, 6a., assigncr to BonaAllen, Incorporated, Buford, Ga., a corporation of Georgia ApplicationMarch 26, 1937, Serial No. 133,097

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a swing attachment between a stirrup leatherand a saddle.

Heretofore, saddles used for hard riding, such as the cowboy types ofsaddles used by riders who rope cattle, are subjected to very heavystrains and stresses, particularly when the rider stands in thestirrups. To reduce the great strain imparted to stirrup leathers underthese conditions and to aid the rider in suitably bracing himself, ithas been contemplated to pass the top of each stirrup leather through ametal jointed D and to support these Ds on each side of the saddle by astrap or sheet steel strip passing therebetween and over the saddle treebetween the horn and cantle. One difficulty in the construction of theold style cowboy saddle resides in the fact that as a rider braceshimself forwardly or rearwardly in the stirrups, the stirrup leathersslide on the bars of the D or bend with a frictionally restrictedmovement which prevents the leathers from quickly assuming the bestsupporting positions and causes considerable wear, frequently resultingin breakage of the leather and endangering the safety of the rider.

It is, therefore, an aim of this invention to provide a swing attachmentconnecting a stirrup leather to a saddle in such manner that the stirrupleather has ample freedom of movement.

'It is a further object of my invention to provide a swing attachmentconnecting a stirrup leather to each side of a saddle and which mayassume a freely pivotal and slidable movement,

permitting the stirrup leather to easily move to any desired positionand reducing the wear thereon to a minimum.

It is a further object'of my invention to provide a swing connectionarranged to pivotally support a stirrup leather for free movementrelative to a saddle and which tends to normally locate the stirrupleather in a predetermined position relative to the saddle.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the appended claims. In theaccompanying drawings, wherein like numerals indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention showing the members innormally operative por sitions; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of theinvention;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the depending swing member;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken substantially along the line t4 ofFig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a view showing a portion of a saddle and my inventionconnected thereto.

In accordance with the present invention, I have provided a swingattachment for connecting a stirrup leather to a saddle. A swing memberor frame it is pivotally and slidably supported on a ring i i, hereinillustrated in the form of a D having a transversely extending roundedtop bar it merging at its opposite ends with a depending arcuate bar itof rounded section. A strap M composed of suitable material, such asleather or sheet metal, which passes over the tree T of a saddle S issecured thereto between the cantle C and the horn H and is looped topivotally receive bars if and support the swing attachments inrespectively depending relation on each side 20 of the saddle.

The swing member It comprises a cast or otherwise suitably formed rigidmetal frame generally rectangular in shape and having a transverselyextending rounded bottom bar It for supporting the upper looped end of astirrup leather L and connected in spaced relation from a top bar ll byspaced side bars l8. These side bars are angularly disposed withreference to each other (Fig. 2), and top bar I! is composed of two armsi'l' connected at their outer ends to the side bars it and extendingtowards each other in generally parallel spaced relation. The inner endsii of arms ll? are in laterally spaced, overlapping relation andinterconnected by a curved upper wall is forming therewith a downwardlydisposed yoke Zil having an inverted U-shaped cross section adapted tooverlie bar l3 in freely slidable straddling relation and provide for afree longitudinal swinging movement of the stirrup leather, as shown inFig. 5. The top inner wall of the yoke is preferably curvedlongitudinally of the frame, as at 2|, and in general c-on-. formitywith the curvature of bar l3 upon which it is slidably received. Theinner ends ll" of arms ii are preferably spaced apart to such extentthat curved bar It may be freely received therebetween into final seatedrelation and also pivot on surface 2| longitudinally of the frame toprovide a relatively transverse swinging movement of members It and IIThe inner ends of the arms are also curved, as at 22, so that in theevent that the swing member it should be lifted out of seated positionon bar is with the bar engaging beneath one of the arms H, a downwardpull on the stirrup leather will cause the curved portions 22 tocooperatively cam the rounded bar I3 into its seated position within theyoke.

In the manufacture of my device, the top bar I2 or other suitableportion of ring H is prefer ably split, as at l2, so that the ring maybe spread apart and inserted through the opening of the frame ill, afterwhich the ends of the ring may be sprung together and welded in positionif desired.

In the operation of my device, it will be appreciated that the pivotalmovement between mem bers Ill and H and of ring H within strap I l,coupled with the pivotal movement of stirrup leather L on frame ill,will provide ample freedom of movement of the stirrup leathertransversely of the frame, and the freely slidable movement of the yokedportion E9 of frame Hi on bar it will provide a free swinging movementof the stirrup leather longitudinally of the frame. Hence, a rider mayinstantly swing the stirrup leathers to any convenient bracingpositions, two of which are illustrated at L and L" in Fig. 5, and therewill be no sliding movement of the strap which tends to quickly wear itand break it.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely differ ent embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the followingclaims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features ofthe invention herein described and all statements of the scope of theinvention which, as a matter of language, might be said to falltherebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. A swing attachment for connecting a stirrup leather to a saddle andcomprising a ring arranged to be supported by the saddle, and a swingmember supported by said ring, said swing member being in the form of arigid frame having spaced top and bottom bars interconnected by spacedside bars, the bottom bar being arranged to support a stirrup leatherand the top bar having a yoke portion between its ends which engages thering in freely slidable relation.

2. A swing attachment for connecting a stirrup leather to a saddlecomprising a ring arranged to be secured to and depend from one side ofa l saddle, and a swing member engaged within said ring, said swingmember being in the form of a rigid metal frame having a bottom bar forsupporting a stirrup leather and connected in spaced relation to top barby spaced side bars, the top bar having a downwardly extending yokedportion between its ends and which is substantially U-shaped in crosssection and overlies the ring for freely slidable and pivotal straddlingrelation therewith.

3. In a swing attachment for securing a stirrup leather to a saddle, aring pivotally depending from the side of the saddle, a swing membersupported by said ring and comprising a rigid, substantially rectangularmetal frame provided with a bottom bar for pivotally supporting a bottomstirrup leather and connected in spaced relation to a top bar by sidebars, said top bar having opposed arms extending inwardly andrespectively from said side bars with the inner ends of the arms inlaterally spaced overlapping relation and interconnected by a curvedupper wall forming a downwardly extending yoked portion in said top barwhich straddles the lower portion of the ring with a freely slidablepivotal relation.

4. In a swing attachment, a metal ring arranged to depend at one side ofa saddle and having a lower curved portion, and a swing member in thegeneral shape of a rigid rectangular metal frame having a bottom stirrupleather supporting bar connected by side bars at its ends to a top bar,said top bar having an intermediate downwardly extending yoked portionof substantially inverted U-shaped cross section and arranged toremovably receive the depending curved portion of the ring in straddlingrelation, said yoke having an inner top wall engaging the lower portionof the ring and longitudinally curved in general conformity to thecurvature of the ring whereby the swing member is freely slidable alongthe supporting portion of the ring.

5. In a swing attachment, a D having a top bar arranged to be pivotallysupported at one side of the saddle and connected at its ends by adepending, longitudinally curved portion, and a swing member in thegeneral shape of a rigid rectangular frame having a bottom stirrupleather supporting bar connected at its respective ends by side bars toa top bar which has a centrally dis- I posed, downwardly extending yokedportion of substantially inverted U-shape in cross section and arrangedto removably receive the depending curved portion of the D in straddlingrelation, said yoke having an inner top wall engaging said curvedportion and longitudinally curved in general conformity therewith sothat the swing member is supported by the D for freely slidable andpivotal movement thereon.

6. In a swing member for a stirrup leather, a metal ring arranged to bepivotally supported at one side of a saddle and having a dependingcurved portion, and a swing member pivotally and slidably supported bysaid ring and comprising a rigid, substantially rectangular metal framehaving a rounded bottom bar supporting a stirrup leather and connectedin spaced relation to a top bar by side bars, said top bar having ayoked portion intermediate of its ends which is of substantiallyinverted U-shape in cross section and adapted to straddle the lowerportion of the ring, said yoke having a curved inner top wall engagingthe ring in longitudinal conformity with the curvature of the ring andhaving curved end portions adapted to cam said yoke into seated positionin the bottom of the ring in the event that said yoke becomes disengagedtherefrom.

ROBERT EARL VANCE.

